Categories: OCCUPIED CRIMEA

A person was tortured in Crimea for searching for deported Ukrainian children

In the temporarily occupied Crimea, a man who tried to find out the whereabouts of the deported Ukrainian children was detained and tortured, an activist says.

This was reported by Krym.Realii with reference to Kateryna Rashevska, an expert of the NGO Regional Center for Human Rights.

“In Crimea, a person who tried to find out the whereabouts of the abducted Ukrainian children was detained and tortured,” the statement said.

After that, public figures decided that they would not collect such information on the peninsula, as it is very dangerous for those who are willing to help in the search. At the same time, according to Rashevska, a lot of data is published by Russian propagandists, which helps to get an idea of the number of children and the specifics of their forced displacement. However, in a number of cases, the Russian authorities subsequently change the children’s data so that they cannot be found.

“We need to act. Russia must fulfill the requirements for the identification of children in accordance with the Geneva Convention. To do this, everyone should put pressure on it, including the adoption of a separate UN General Assembly resolution on this issue. And then appoint a third party to monitor and promote the repatriation of children to Ukraine,” the expert said.

In total, according to human rights activists, 19,546 Ukrainian children have been identified as forcibly deported to Russian and Belarusian territory. In the year and a half since the start of the full-scale war, about 300 children have been returned.

Experts estimate that if this pace continues, the last of the victims will be returned in about 80 years. Public figures, however, are convinced that even in a year it will be too late because Ukrainian children are being brainwashed, making them afraid to return to Ukraine.

Ukraine Front Lines